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GEORGIA: 



ITS HISTORY, CONDITION, 
AND RESOURCES 



^^ .^ 



SAMUEL AX^ DRAKE 



WITH MAP 






NEW YORK 

CHARLES SCRIBNER'S SONS 
1879 



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■^1^ 



Copyright, 1879, by 
CHARLES SCRIBNER'S SONS 



f. 



Trow's 

Printing and Bookbinding Company, 

205-213 East Twelfth Street, 

New York. 



GEORGIA. 



Georgia, one of the thirteen original States 
of the American Union, has Tennessee and 
North CaroHna on the N., South Carohna and 
the Atlantic Ocean on the E., Florida S., and 
Alabama W. The Savannah river separates 
the State on the E. from South Carolina; the 
St. Mary's, on the S., divides it in part from 
Florida; the Chattahoochee, on the W., flows 
between Georgia and Alabama for nearly half 
its course. Georgia lies between 30° 21' 39''* 
and 35° N. lat., and between 81° and 85° 53^ 
38^' W- long. It is 320 miles long from N. ta 
S., and 256 miles in its greatest breadth from 
E. to W. , with an area of 58,000 square miles. 

Surface. — Georgia has three distinctly marked 
zones, varying in soil, climate, and productions. 
Her sea-coast is similar to that of the Carolinas, 
being skirted by fertile islands, separated from 



4 GEORGIA. 

the mainland by narrow lagoons or by sounds. 
This section is essentially tropical. Beginning 
at the sea-coast, a gradually ascending sandy 
plain extends northward and westward as far 
as the head of navigation on the Savannah, 
Ogeechee, Oconee, and Ocmulgee rivers, where 
it meets a Primary formation. Augusta, Mil- 
ledgeville, and Macon indicate the northern 
limit of this tract. Here begins the hilly and 
finally mountainous region, the most extensive, 
fertile, and salubrious of the State. A second 
plateau, 60 or 70 miles broad, stretches above 
the falls of the rivers until it meets the southern- 
most ranges of the great Appalachian chain of 
mountains which traverses Virginia, North 
Carolina, and northern Georgia under the name 
of the Blue Ridge, and is finally lost in Alabama. 
This picturesque district extends in Georgia 
from Rabun county in the north-east corner of 
the State to Dade in the extreme north-west, 
where the summit of Lookout Mountain domi- 
nates the valley of the Tennessee. Here are 
the sources of the two principal rivers of the 
State ; here is the gold-producing region ; and 
here is also the theatre of some of the most san- 
guinary battles of the civil war. The elevations 



GEORGIA. 5 

of the Blue Ridge vary from 1,200 to 4,000 
feet. In the south-east of the State is the ex- 
tensive Okefinokee swamp, which has an esti- 
mated circumference of 180 miles, is filled with 
pools and islands, and is the congenial home of 
alligators, lizards, and other reptiles. 

Rivers and Harbors. — There are many fine- 
rivers in Georgia. A north and south line pass- 
ing through Macon would nearly divide the 
streams flowing into the Atlantic from those 
discharging into the Gulf of Mexico. The Sa- 
vannah, Ogeechee, Altamaha, Santilla, and St. 
Mary's fall into the Atlantic, and the Chatta- 
hoochee, Flint, and tributaries of the Suwanee 
flow to the Gulf coast. The rivers are generally 
navigable for steamboats to the falls which oc- 
cur on the great central plateau of the State — 
that is to say, the Savannah to Augusta, the 
Oconee and Ocmulgee (confluents of the Alta- 
maha) to Milledgeville and Macon, and the 
Chattahoochee to Columbus. Besides their or- 
dinary purposes as avenues of travel and com- 
merce, her rivers have given to Georgia the 
character of a manufacturing State, and she is 
developing and increasing their abundant water- 
powers with energy and success. 



6 GEORGIA. 

The Savannah is formed of two small streams which 
rise near the North Carolina line, and unite on the boun- 
dary between S. Carolina and Georgia in Hart county. 
Flowing thence in a nearly S.S.E. direction for 450 miles, 
it enters the Atlantic near 32* N. lat. The Savannah is 
navigable from November to June. Ships ascend it 18 
miles to the city of Savannah, steamboats to Augusta, 
230 miles, and by means of a canal around the falls there, 
constructed in 1845, light draught vessels navigate it 150 
miles higher. This canal, 9 miles long, furnishes the 
-water-power of Augusta. The river is here about 300 
yards wide. From Augusta the traveller descends the 
Savannah through the cotton-fields of the table-lands, 
and the long reaches of semi-tropical vegetation domi- 
nated by groves of live oak, to the rich rice plantations 
of the seaboard. 

The Chattahoochee is one of the largest and most in- 
teresting rivers of Georgia. It rises on the declivity of 
the Blue Ridge, in Habersham county, in the N.E. of 
the State, pursues a devious S.W, course through the 
gold region of upper Georgia until it reaches West 
Point, on the Alabama frontier. It then flows nearly 
south to the Florida State line, where it is joined by the 
Flint, when the two streams flow on through Florida to 
the Gulf under the name of the Appalachicola. Large 
steamboats ascend the Chattahoochee in the season of 
navigation to Columbus, 350 miles from the Gulf. The 
whole estimated length of the river is 550 miles. The 
falls at Columbus create a valuable water-power, con- 
stituting that city one of the three important manufactur- 
ing centres of the State. Just above Columbus the 
Chattahoochee is broken in picturesque rapids, over- 
looked by a rocky cliff called the " Lover's Leap," which 
is the subject of an interesting legend. Besides Colum- 
bus, the towns of West Point and Fort Gaines are the 
most important on the Chattahoochee in Georgia ; Ap- 
palachicola at its embouchure on the Gulf is its shipping 



GEORGIA. f 

and distributing port, but is decreasing in importance 
since the railway system of the State has assumed a large 
share of the traffic once confined to the navigable 
streams. 

The Oconee and Ocmulgee rise near each other, in 
the N. of the State, flow through its centre to within loo 
miles of the sea, when their united streams pass on S. 
E. to the Atlantic under the name of the Altamaha. 
Milledgeville, the former capital of Georgia, is on the 
Oconee, and Macon on the Ocmulgee. Darien on the 
Altamaha is reached by vessels drawing 1 1 to 14 feet of 
water. The Ogeechee, rising also in the north, is about 
200 miles long. It drains the country between the Savan- 
nah and Altamaha, entering the Atlantic a few miles south 
of the Savannah. The Ogeechee is navigable for light 
vessels 30 or 40 miles, and for keel-boats to Louisville. 
The Santilla and St. Mary's drain the south-eastern 
counties, and are each navigable 30 or 40 miles for 
sloops. The Flint, Ockloconee, and Suwanee drain the 
south-western counties ; the Flint is navigable to Albany, 
250 miles from the Gulf, for steamboats. The Talla-- 
poosa and Coosa, head-waters of the Alabama, and the 
Hiawassee, one of the sources of the Tennessee, rise in 
the mountains of Georgia — the last, however, finding its 
way to the Gulf of Mexico by the Ohio and Mississippi 
valleys. 

Georgia has about 128 miles of sea-coast, but 
has few good harbors, except within the rivers 
emptying upon it. St. Mary's, Brunswick, 
Darien, and Savannah are the principal. The 
chain of islands lying off the mainland produces 
the celebrated Sea-island cotton, but owing to 
the changes brought about by the secession war 



g GEORGIA. 

it is now little cultivated. These islands are 
flat, and generally little elevated above the sea. 
Cumberland island, one of the most attractive, 
is nearly 30 miles long. It is covered with 
magnificent forests of oak, and its shores are 
skirted with palms, palmettos, and tropical 
shrubbery. Other islands from S. to N. are 
Jykill, St. Simon's, Sapello, St. Catharine's, Os- 
sabaw, and Cabbage. The Sea Islands, with 
the main shore, constitute a coast of 480 miles. 
St. Andrew's, St. Simon's, Altamaha, Doboy, 
Sapello, St. Catharine's, and Ossabaw are the 
principal sounds. 

Climate^ Soil, and Productions. — The central 
and southern portions of Georgia, including the 
seaboard, are subject to excessive heats in sum- 
mer. At Savannah, observations show the mean 
temperature for July to have sometimes reached 
99° Fahr. In the northern district of the State 
the same season is cooler and less enervating. 
Indeed, the mountain region is becoming noted 
for its genial and healthful climate, and is at- 
tracting invalids and pleasure-seekers from all 
parts of the Union. In the low marshy lands 
lying contiguous to or upon the coast, malarious 
fevers prevail in spring and summer. The belt 



GEORGIA. 9 

of country stretching from Augusta across the 
State to Columbus, having a width of from 30 
to 60 miles, is pronounced a very healthy dis- 
trict. At Augusta the mean summer tempera- 
ture is about 79°, the winter 47°. At Atlanta 
careful observations give the average of summer 
heat as 75°, and winter 45°. Diseases of the re- 
spiratory organs are rare among natives of 
northern and central Georgia. The interior is 
comparatively free from the dreaded epidemics 
cholera and yellow fever, but Savannah and the 
coast are periodically scourged by them. 

There is in Georgia as great diversity of soil 
as of climate. Beginning with the Sea Islands, 
which are composed of a sandy alluvium, inter- 
mixed with decomposed coral, we pass from 
the rich alluvions near the coast, in which the 
great rice plantations are, to the thinner soil of 
the Pine Belt, sometimes inaptly denominated 
Pine Barrens. These are at present valuable, 
for their timber and naval stores, but are sus- 
ceptible of cultivation. The middle region con- 
sists of a red loam, once productive, but from 
long cultivation impoverished. With the aid of 
fertilizers it produces cotton, tobacco, and the 
cereals. We now reach the so-called Cherokee 



10 GEORGIA. 

country of the north, containing lands among 
the most fertile in the State, lands which, not- 
withstanding their tillage from an unknown 
period by the aboriginal inhabitants, grow 
wheat, corn, Irish potatoes, peas, beans, etc., 
abundantly. Cotton may also be successfully 
cultivated, but with less advantage than in 
other districts of the State. This fibre is chiefly 
produced along the fertile bottom lands or con- 
tiguous uplands of the rivers. The same lands 
yield rice, Indian corn, and sugar. Middle and 
southwest Georgia are the most productive 
cotton areas. In the south-west the soil, though 
light and sandy, produces cotton. In southern 
Georgia there are millions of acres of magnifi- 
cent yellow pine forests of great value for house 
or ship-building, and in these forests turpentine 
plantations have been opened. The live-oak, 
also valuable for ship-building purposes, abounds 
in the south-east of the State. The swamps 
afford cedar and cypress, the central region oak 
and hickory. Walnut, chestnut, ash, gum, 
magnolia, poplar, sycamore, beech, elm, maple, 
fir, and spruce trees are found in different local- 
ities ; but in the older settled districts the origi- 
nal forests have disappeared. 



GEORGIA. I r 

It is frequently said that tliere is nothing 
grown in any of the States except Florida that 
Georgia cannot profitably produce. A few of 
the tropical fruits of Florida cannot be raised in 
Georgia, but all those of the temperate zone 
succeed well. Tobacco may be grown in any 
part of the State, although it is not extensively 
cultivated for export. Cotton is the great 
crop of Georgia. She ranks third among the 
eight cotton States, having exported or con- 
sumed in her own manufactures, for the year 
ending September, 1878, 604,676 bales, worth 
at the point of export $30,000,000. Of this 
crop 3,608 bales is classed as Sea-island. 
Her crop for 1877 was 491,800 bales. The 
counties of Burke, Dougherty, Lee, Monroe, 
Stewart, Sumter, and Washington yield 25 per- 
cent, of the whole product of the State. 

The emancipation of the slaves in the South- 
ern States has naturally produced great and im- 
portant changes in the labor system of that sec- 
tion. The planter must now purchase the la- 
bor he formerly owned. The black is free to 
dispose of his labor to the best advantage. The 
contracts for labor are of three kinds, — for mon- 
ey wages by the month or year, for a share of 



12 GEORGIA. 

the crop, or for specific rent in money or prod- 
ucts. The first has been practised to a limited 
extent by the best and most prosperous plant- 
ers. The share system has been the one gen- 
erally adopted, because the blacks greatly af- 
fected quasi-proprietorship of the soil, and be- 
cause the owners were inexperienced in the 
management of free labor, and not inclined to 
come personally in contact with it. The share 
varies in different localities, but usually one- 
third to half the crop goes to the laborers, the 
landlords furnishing the necessary tools. The 
readjustment of labor in the South is watched 
with the keenest interest in other sections of the 
Union as one of the difficult problems growing 
out of the suddenly changed relation between 
white and black ; and though some traces of his 
original servitude remain a cause of irritation 
between Northjand South, the agreement be- 
tween the enfranchised black and his late master 
is likely to be harmonious, where each is so de- 
pendent on the other as is the case in the cot- 
ton-growing States of the Union. 

Statistics. — A carefully tabulated statement shows 
that, in addition to her cotton crop, Georgia produced, 
in 1876, 23,629,000 bushels of Indian corn, valued at 



GEORGIA. 13 

$14,172,000; 2,840,000 bushels of wheat, worth $3,805,- 
600; 5,700,000 bushels of oats, worth $3,876,000; and 
23,600 tons of hay, worth $347,628. To these principal 
crops should be added the timber and naval stores ex- 
ported from Atlantic outports. In January, 1877, there 
were in Georgia 118,300 horses, 404,900 oxen and other 
cattle, 96,200 mules, 270,400 milch cows, 378,600 sheep, 
and 1,483,100 swine, having a total valuation of $30,815,- 
117. The State is admirably adapted for stock-raising, 
but, as cotton culture oifers the quickest returns, it has 
hitherto engrossed the attention of planters and farmers. 
The grain and root crops are largely cultivated for the 
support of the agricultural population. 

The rice crop of Georgia in 1870 was 22,277,380 fl) ; 
tobacco, 288,596 R) ; molasses, 553,192 gals.; wine, 21,927 
gals.; sugar, 644 hhds ; sweet potatoes, 2,621,562 bush. ; 
Irish potatoes, 197,101 iDush.; butter, 4,499,572 R); honey, 
610,877 R>; wool, 846,947 R), increased in 1878 to about 
1,000,000 lb. The latest official census shows that 6,831, - 
856 acres, valued at $94,559,468, are improved in farms ; 
value of farm implements and machinery, $4,614,701 ; 
estimated value of all farm products, $80,390,228 ; esti- 
mated value of manufactured products, $31,196,115. 
The total valuation of the State in 1870 was $268,169,- 
207, against $645,895,237, in i860. The decrease is 
owing to the emancipation of the slaves ; but the State 
is steadily gaining ground in increased acreage culti- 
vated, increased number and value of manufactories, 
and increased productive capacity everywhere. 

Mineral Products. — Georgia was perhaps the El Dorado 
of which the Spaniards who invaded Florida were in 
search. Before the gold discovery in California, the 
*' placers " of Northern Georgia were profitably worked 
for many years ; but since 1852 their produce has almost 
wholly ceased. The gold-bearing region is comprised in 
the counties of Lumpkin, Habersham, Forsyth, and Hall, 
— the precious metal being found in the alluvial deposits 



14 GEORGIA. 

of the streams, and also intermixed with the quartz rock 
of the hills. A branch mint was established by the Gov- 
ernment at Dahlonega, the shire town of Lumpkin coun- 
ty. In 1853 it coined gold bullion of nearly half a mil- 
lion dollars' value ; but, as in California, the placers, or 
surface deposits, have become exhausted. Besides this 
precious metal, Georgia contains, mainly in N. E. or 
Cherokee Georgia, coal and fossiliferous iron ore distrib- 
uted along the ridges between the Tennessee and Ala- 
bama border. The Cohutta mountains contain copper^ 
and also silver and lead ores. Iron ore, manganese, 
slate, baryta, and brown haematite are found on the 
western declivity of this range. Between the Cohutta 
mountains and the Blue Ridge is a vein of marble, and 
adjacent to it are the gold-bearing schists, which reap- 
pear on the south side of the Blue Ridge. Other miner- 
als are granite, gypsum, limestone, sienite, marl, burr- 
stone, soapstone, asbestos, shales, tripoli, fluor-spar, ka- 
olin, porcelain clay, arragonite, tourmaline, emerald, 
carnelian, ruby, opal, calcedony, agate, amethyst, jas- 
per, garnets, schorl, zircon, rose-quartz, beryl, and even 
diamonds. 

Population. — The latest official census of Georgia 
(1870) gives a population of 1,184,709 souls, 638,926 be- 
ing white and 545,142, or nearly one-half, black. This 
population is distributed among 136 counties, which in- 
clude 8 cities and 134 incorporated towns. Georgia, 
which ranks tenth in area, is the twelfth of the Union in 
respect to population. Though showing an increase of 
127,423 persons in the previous decade, which embraced 
the period of the war with the North, she has fallen be- 
hind one in her rank ; but indications of prosperity in her 
agricultural and manufacturing interests warrant the be- 
lief that Georgia will show a marked gain in 1880. A 
large proportion of this anticipated increase may be con- 
fidently assigned to the northern section of the State, 
though the middle section is at present most thickly set- 
tled. 



GEORGIA. IS 

Counties. — There are 136 counties in the State, viz. : 
Appling, Baker, Baldwin, Banks, Bartow, Berrien, Bibb, 
Brooks, Bryan, Bullock, Burke, Butts, Calhoun, Camp- 
bell, Camden, Carroll, Cass, Catoosa, Charlton, Chatham, 
Chattahoochee, Chattooga, Clarke, Cherokee, Clay, Clay- 
ton, Clinch, Cobb, Coffee, Colquitt, Columbia, Cowetta, 
Crawford, Dade, Dawson, Decatur, De Kalb, Dodge, 
Dooly, Dougherty, Douglas, Early, Echols, Effingham, 
Elbert, Emmanuel, Fannin, Fayette, Floyd, Forsyth, 
Franklin, Fulton, Gilmer, Glasscock, Glynn, Gordon, 
Greene, Gwinnett, Habersham, Hall, Hancock, Haral- 
son, Harris, Hart, Heard, Henry, HoAiston, Irwin, Jack- 
son, Jasper, Jefferson, Johnson, Jones, Laurens, Lee, 
Liberty, Lincoln, Lowndes, Lumpkin, Macon, Madison, 
Marion, M'Duffie, M'Intosh, Meriwether, Miller, Milton, 
Mitchell, Monroe, Montgomery, Morgan, Murray, Mus- 
cogee, Newton, Oglethorpe, Paulding, Pickens, Pierce, 
Pike, Polk, Pulaski, Putnam, Quitman, Rabun, Ran- 
dolph, Richmond, Rockdale, Schley, Scriven, Spalding, 
Stewart, Sumter, Talbot, Taliafero, Tatnall, Taylor, Tel- 
fair, Terrell, Thomas, Towns, Troup, Twiggs, Union, 
Upson, Walker, Walton, Ware, Warren^ Washingt;on, 
Wayne, Webster, White, Whitfield, Wilcox, Wilkes, 
Wilkinson, and Worth. 

Cities and Towns. — Georgia has no large cities. Sa- 
vannah, the chief seaport, has a population of about 30,- 
000; Atlanta, the capital, 35,000; Augusta, 23,768; 
Macon, 10,810; Columbus, 7,401 ; Athens, 4,251 ; Mil- 
ledgeville, 2,750; and Rome, 2,748. The important 
towns are Albany, Americus, Bainbridge, Brunswick, 
Cartersville, Covington, Cuthbert, Dalton, Dawson, Ea- 
tonton, Fort Valley, Griffin, La Grange, Marietta, New- 
nan, Thomasville, Valdosta, Washington, and West 
Point. Columbus, Americus, Atlanta, and Rome, as 
well as Savannah, are considerable shipping points, for 
cotton ; Athens is the seat of the University of Georgia ; 
Augusta and Columbus are manufacturing centres ; Ma- 



l6 .GEORGIA. 

con has three religious colleges ; Darien, Brunswick, 
and St. Mary's manufacture and export lumber. Ander- 
sonville, in Sumter county, acquired terrible celebrity 
during the civil war as the site of the chief military pris- 
on of the Southern Confederacy. Atlanta is by far the 
best example of rapid growth the State affords. From a 
population of 21,189 exhibited by the census of 1870, the 
city advanced to 35,000 in 1876. It is a railway and 
manufacturing centre. In the vicinity and for its pos- 
session were conducted some of the most important mili- 
tary operations of the secession war. 

Manufactures. — Georgia is the foremost Southern 
State in her railway and manufacturing enterprises. 
Both have been chiefly developed since the war, from 
which everything in the south of the Union dates. Her 
rivers and railways afford abundant facilities for the move- 
ment of merchandise as well as crops. Her streams also 
provide excellent and unfailing water-power. In the de- 
velopment of her industries a great future is predicted 
for Georgia. Indeed some of the more sanguine claim 
that she is already becoming a formidable rival of New 
England in the manufacture of cotton and woollen 
fabrics. 

There are in the State 38 cotton factories, with 123,233 
spindles and 2,125 looms. There are 14 woollen facto- 
ries, with 4,200 spindles and 135 looms. Augusta and 
Columbus take the lead in the number and capacity of 
these works, for which certain important adv^antages are 
claimed. The water-power is so ample that the mills 
are run by it alone. The streams do not freeze in win- 
ter. The cotton and wool are grown at the factory door, 
saving to the mill-owner the cost of transporting his 
raw material from a great distance. Labor is cheaper. 
Finally, the State, in order to encourage the investment 
of foreign capital in manufactures, has by law exempted 
such capital from taxation for ten years. The product 
of the Georgia mills finds a ready market in the South- 



GEORGIA. 17 

ern and Western States. It is asserted on good author- 
ity that during the years 1875, 1876, and i877~years of 
unparalleled depression to the manufacturing interests 
of the United States — the mills of Georgia, especially 
those of Augusta and Columbus, were never idle, and 
paid a handsome return on their invested capital. Be- 
sides the 52 factories which convert so large a share of 
her raw product into cloths, there are 1,375 grain mills, 
having 1,453 ^^^ of stones for corn and 556 for wheat. 
There are 734 saw-mills, 77 wagon and carriage factories, 
6 iron furnaces, 7 iron foundries, 11 lime-kilns, 4 potter- 
ies, 68 tanneries, 6 turpentine distilleries, 2 rolling mills, 
5 paper-mills, 12 furniture manufactories, 3 rice-mills, 
&c. The manufacture of rope, bagging, twine, tobacco, 
ice, sashes and blinds, agricultural implements, boilers 
and machinery, fertilizers, &c., is carried on more or 
less extensively. Besides Augusta and Columbus, the 
largest manufacturing city of the State, there are cotton 
factories at Athens, Macon, West Point, Decatur, and 
Atlanta. The latter city also has large iron works. 
Thomasville, Dalton, Albany, Marietta, and Rome are 
also manufacturing points. 

Commerce. — Large vessels can enter only four harbors, 
viz., Savannah, Darien, Brunswick, and St. Mary's. The 
inlets or sounds which divide the coast islands from each 
other or from the mainland are generally only navigable 
for small craft. At mean low tides the bar of the Sa- 
vannah (Tybee entrance) has 19, the Altamaha 14, that 
of St. Simon's sound (entrance to Brunswick) 17, and 
that of St. Mary's river 14 feet of water. Savannah, 
Brunswick, and St. Mary's are ports of entry. Cotton 
and lumber are the principal exports. Of the former 
610,419 bales of Upland, and 11,309 of Sea-island were 
exported during the year ending September 2, 1878. 
The shipment of wool for the same time was 988,389 R). 
These figures should not be taken to represent the crop 
of the State. The ship-timber, boards, deals, clapboards, 



1 8 GEORGIA. 

&c., are chiefly shipped from the other ports. About 
loo vessels, of 22,000 tons burden, are employed in the 
foreign and coastwise trade. For the year ending De- 
cember ;^i, 1878, the total tonnage of the port of Savan- 
nah was — entered, 280,995 tons foreign and 385,532 
coastwise ; cleared, 223,885 foreign and 418,958 coast- 
wise ; value of imports $505,596, and of exports $24,- 
014,535. I^ the district of Brunswick and Darien the 
entries were 124,711 and the clearances 32,579 tons ; 
value of exports $1,030,943. The St. Mary's entries 
were 16,052 tons foreign and 20,065 coastwise ; value of 
exports $120,186, and of imports $1,421. 

Railways. — Atlanta, Columbus, Macon, Albany, and 
Augusta are railway centres. In i860 there were in 
Georgia 1,404 miles of completed railway; in 1878 there 
were 2,340 miles. The Atlantic and Gulf Railway crosses 
the State from Savannah to Bainbridge, in the extreme 
south-west, on the Flint river. It is 236 miles long, 
passing through Blackshear, Valdosta, and Thomasville 
(from which there is a branch line to Albany — 58 miles 
— and Macon), while from Dupont there is a junction with 
the Florida lines. The Brunswick and Albany also ex- 
tends from the coast at Brunswick to Albany, 172 miles, 
whence it is to be continued in a westerly direction to 
the Chattahoochee, in Early county. A third line con- 
nects Brunswick with Macon (187 miles) ; and another, 
the Central Georgia, unites Savannah with Macon and 
Atlanta (294 miles). The Central Georgia works a 
branch-line from Millen to Augusta ; the Milledgeville 
and Eatonton from Gordon to Eatonton (22 miles) ; the 
South-Western from Macon to Eufaula, Ala. (144 miles), 
with branches from Fort Valley to Columbus (72 miles), 
Smithville to Albany (23! miles), Cuthbert to Fort 
Gaines (20 miles), Fort Valley to Perry (13 miles), and 
Albany to Arlington (36 miles) ; the Macon and West- 
ern from Macon to Atlanta ; and the Upson County line 
from Barnes ville to Thomaston (16 miles). 



GEORGIA. 19 

Atlanta is situated on the great iron highways from 
Boston, New York, and Philadelphia to Mobile and New 
Orleans, and from Chicago to Florida. The Western 
and Atlantic connects Atlanta and the Georgia system 
with the Tennessee lines at Chattanooga (138 miles). 
Several great battles were fought for the possession of 
this railway during the secession war. The Atlanta and 
Charlotte Air Line extends to Charlotte, N. C. (269 
miles). The Georgia railway connects Atlanta with 
Augusta (171 miles), with lateral lines from Carnak to 
Warrenton (4 miles), Union Point to Athens (40 miles), 
and Barnet to Washington (18 miles) ; it also works the 
Macon and Augusta line from Carnak to Augusta (70 
miles). The Atlanta and West Point (80 miles) unites 
those places. The Alabama and Chattanooga crosses 
the N. W. corner of the State. The Cherokee extends 
from Cartersville on the Western and Atlantic to Rock- 
mart (23 miles). The Columbus and Atlanta, projected 
between Columbus and Rome, the Memphis branch 
(Rome to Decatur, Ala.), and Savannah, Griffin, and N. 
Alabama, from Griffin to Newman, to be extended to 
Guntersville, Ala., are in progress. The Georgia South- 
ern extends from Dalton to the Ala. State line (portion of 
Selma, Rome, and Dalton road) ; North-Eastern from 
Athens to Lulah (39 miles) ; Ocmulgee and Horse Creek 
(7 miles) ; Rome Railroad, Rome to Kingston (20 miles). 

Government. — The executive power is vested in a 
governor elected for four years by a majority of the peo- 
ple. If there is no election by the people, the general 
assembly chooses one of the two receiving the highest 
number of votes. The legislative authority is conferred 
upon a senate, members of which are elected for four 
years, and a house of representatives elected for two 
years. The legislature holds annual sessions, beginning 
on the second Wednesday of January. The State judi- 
ciary consists of a supreme court of three judges, who 
hold office for twelve years, one retiring every four 



20 GEORGIA. 

years, and of inferior courts, presided over by nineteen 
judges, appointed by the executive with the consent of 
the senate. Except in probate cases, these courts have 
original jurisdiction, civil and criminal, in law and 
equity. County courts are established in most of the 
counties. There is an ordinary for each county elected 
for four years, who holds a court of ordinary and pro- 
bate. The organic law of the State now forbids slavery 
or involuntary servitude except for the punishment of 
crime. Imprisonment for debt, and legislation affecting 
the free exercise of that personal liberty guaranteed to 
the citizen by the amendments to the Constitution of the 
United States, are also prohibited. All male inhabitants 
between eighteen and forty-five are subject to military 
duty. There is a homestead exemption of $2,000 on 
real, and $1,000 on personal property, except for taxes, 
for money borrowed or expended on the homestead, or 
for labor or materials used upon it. The property held 
by a married woman at the time of marriage, or subse- 
quently inherited or acquired by her, is not liable for 
the husband's debts. A married woman may also sue 
and be sued in matters pertaining to her separate estate, 
and may carry on trade as if single. Georgia is entitled 
to seven representatives and two senators in Congress. 

Education. — Previous tc the war, there was no com- 
mon school system in Georgia. Although a plan of pub- 
lic instruction was organized at an earlier date, it was 
not given effect to until 1873. In that year the schools 
were put in working condition, and are now to be found 
in every county of the State. The attendance in 1876 
was — whites 121,418, colored 57,987, showing a small but 
steady increase for the three years the schools had been 
in operation. It is computed by the school commission 
at 200,000 for 1879. The higher branches of education 
are well represented. As early as 1801 steps for found- 
ing a university were taken at Athens. The first com- 
mencement took place in 1804. The college proper 



GEORGIA. 21 

(Franklin College at Athens) annually admits free of 
charge " fifty meritorious young men of limited means," 
and also such as may be studying for the ministry who 
need aid. There is also connected with the university a 
medical college, located at Augusta, and an agricultural 
college at Dahlonega, with nearly 250 students, whose 
tuition is free. The State college of agriculture and me- 
chanic arts, also connected with the university, has a 
special endowment derived from the United States of 
$240,000 ; the whole endowment of the university is 
$376,500. The university, exclusive of its establishments 
at Augusta and Dahlonega, has five departments, 13 pro- 
fessors, and 200 students, with a library of 14,000 vol- 
umes, and two literary societies. Besides the usual col- 
legiate course, there are a preparatory school and a law 
school. Mercer College, at Macon, is a Baptist institu- 
tion. It was founded in 1838 ; and until 1870 it was lo- 
cated at Penfield, in Greene county. It has an endow- 
ment of $160,000, a library of 12,000 volumes, and about 
135 students. Besides the regular academic course, 
there are schools of law and theology. The high schools 
at Penfield and Dalton are connected with this college. 
Emory College at Oxford, Newton county, was chartered 
in 1836. It is the property of the Georgia and Florida 
conferences of the Methodist Episcopal Church (South). 
The present number of students is 1 56. Emory has a 
valuable college apparatus and a good working library, 
but lacks an endowment. The Wesleyan Female Col- 
lege at Macon was one of the first female colleges, if not 
the first, in the world, its charter having been granted in 
1836. It has 200 students, and is the property of the 
Methodist denomination. Since 1840 degrees have been 
conferred upon 1,080 graduates. The Southern Masonic 
Female College at Covington belongs to the Grand 
Lodge of Georgia, and is designed to educate female 
orphans of Freemasons. Pio Nono College at Macon is 
a recently established Catholic institution, chiefly found- 



22 GEORGIA. 

ed by the efforts of the bishop of Savannah. The At- 
lanta University for the education of negroes was estab- 
lished by the now extinct Freedmen's Bureau and various 
charitable societies of the Northern States. It receives 
an annual appropriation from the Georgia legislature of 
$8,000. It accommodates 240 pupils. There are a num- 
ber of institutions, in addition to those enumerated, that 
are entitled colleges, but come more properly within the 
designation of high schools. There are also institutions 
for the blind (at Macon), and for the deaf and dumb 
(near Rome). 

Objects of Interest. — Perhaps the most beau- 
tiful scenery in Georgia is to be found in the 
mountain region traversed by the Air Line rail- 
way. About 2^ miles from the town of Toccoa 
the creek of that name falls 185 feet over a pre- 
cipice. Fifteen miles beyond Toccoa are the 
cascades of Tallulah, where the river descends 
successive terraces of broken rock between the 
walls of a chasm 800 feet deep. In this vicinity 
are the charming valleys of Nacoochee and 
Mount Yonah. In the extreme north-east is 
Rabun gap and the cascades of Eastatoia. Con- 
nected with this region, once the hunting- 
grounds of the warlike Cherokees, are many 
Indian legends. The country between Atlanta 
and Chattanooga is deeply interesting from hav- 
ing been the battle-ground of opposing armies 



GEORGIA. 23 

in the civil war. Kenesaw mountain, itself the 
scene of a bloody encounter, commands a view 
of the country which for two months the Con- 
federate commanders disputed foot by foot. 
Stone mountain, 9 miles from Decatur, is much 
visited. The Chattahoochee, in the neighbor- 
hood of Columbus, is picturesque ; and Savan- 
nah is one of the most attractive and idiosyn- 
cratic cities of the Union. There are numerous 
mineral springs scattered over the State, which 
are much resorted to by invalids. 

History. — Before the arrival of Europeans the 
county now embraced in Georgia was inhabited 
by the Cherokee and Creek Indians. The 
Cherokees possessed the north, the Creeks the 
south. Both were very powerful and warlike, 
the Cherokees numbering 6,000 warriors, and 
having 64 towns and villages. To be more pre- 
cise, the Cherokee country extended from the 
34th parallel north to the country of the Six Na- 
tions, and from the heads of the rivers emptying 
U^on the South Carolina coast westward to the 
Mississippi. The whole course of the Tennessee 
was within this magnificent domain, now mostly 
embraced in the four States of Georgia, Alaba- 
ma, Mississippi, and Tennessee. In 1729 this 



24 GEORGIA. 

extensive territory was surrendered by treaty 
to the crown of Great Britain. The following 
year the Cherokees made formal submission to 
Sir A. Cuming, Bart. 

Georgia was the only one of the original thirteen 
colonies that received any aid in its settlement 
from the Government of England. General James 
Oglethorpe conceived and executed the plan of 
founding an English colony in that portion of 
the Carolina proprietaries' grant between the 
Savannah and Altamaha. His purpose was to 
create an asylum in the New World where in- 
solvent debtors, and persons fleeing from religi- 
ous persecution, might begin hfe anew or enjoy 
religious freedom. By royal letters-patent issued 
in June, 1732, the proposed colony was called 
Georgia in honor of the reigning prince ; and 
the House of Commons granted ;^io,ooo, which 
was soon increased by private subscription to 
;^36,ooo. Under the charter the trustees had 
powers of legislation, but could receive no re- 
ward for their services. Even grants of land to 
themselves were forbidden. 

With 116 emigrants Oglethorpe sailed from 
England in November, 1732, arriving in the Sa- 
vannah in February. He landed at the present 



GEORGIA. 25 

site of Savannah, where he was soon after hos- 
pitably received by delegates from the Lower 
Creeks, who consented that the English might 
peaceably inhabit among them. The next year 
a small number of Bavarians came over, and 
were settled in what is now Effingham county. 
Oglethorpe also established settlements at Da- 
rien, at Augusta, and on St. Simon's Island. 
In 1736 the colony received considerable acces- 
sions of emigrants, with whom came John and 
Charles Wesley, the founders of Methodism. 
In 1738 the Rev. George Whitefield visited 
Georgia, founding the orphan-house at Beth- 
seda, near Savannah, from funds chiefly col- 
lected on his tour in the northern colonies. 

Anticipating invasion by the Spaniards of 
Florida, who claimed Georgia, Oglethorpe, on 
the renewal of war between England and Spain, 
led an expedition to St. Augustine, Florida, 
which he besieged without success at the head 
of 2,000 men. The Spaniards retaliated by 
landing in 1742 a small force on St. Simon's 
island, from which they were expelled by 
Oglethorpe. They then abandoned further at- 
tempts. Slavery was introduced into Georgia 
about 1750. In 1752 the trustees surrendered 



26 GEORGIA. 

their privileges to the crown. A royal gover- 
nor and council were appointed to administer, 
in conjunction with delegates of the people, 
the government of the province. During the 
French and Indian wars the remote settlements 
suffered somewhat from incursions of the Chero- 
kees. The treaties of 1763 with France and 
Spain extended the boundaries of Georgia to 
the Mississippi on the W., and to St. Mary's 
on the S. After this the colony flourished 
greatly until the breaking out of war with Eng- 
land, at which time the colony was estimated to 
have a population of about 70,000 souls. In 
1775 Sir James Wright, the crown governor, 
left the province. Delegates were sent to repre- 
sent Georgia in the continental congress who 
signed the Declaration of Independence. In 
1778 a British land and naval force occupied 
Savannah and Augusta, but were subsequently 
compelled to abandon the latter place. In 
September of the same year a combined 
American and French force, under Lincoln and 
D'Estaing, unsuccessfully attempted the recov- 
ery of Savannah, losing nearly 1,000 men in an 
assault. Augusta was reoccupied by the con- 
querors. Charleston being surrendered by 



GEORGIA. 27 

General Lincoln in 1780, the patriots of South 
Carolina and Georgia were only able to main- 
tain a partisan warfare, until the advance of 
General Greene from the north, at the head of 
considerable forces, resulted in the expulsion of 
the royal troops from those provinces. Georgia 
at the conclusion of peace ratified the several 
Acts constituting her one of the United States 
of America. She framed her first constitution 
in 1777, a second in 1789, and a third (which 
has been several times amended) in 1798. 

In 1803 Georgia ceded to the general gov- 
ernment all her territory west of the Chatta- 
hoochee, amounting to nearly 100,000 square 
miles, out of which the States of Alabama and 
Mississippi were subsequently formed. The 
cession of Louisiana to the United States was of 
great benefit to Georgia in ending hostilities 
which the Spaniards were continually inciting 
the Indians to commit upon the scattered settle- 
ments. By a treaty with the Creeks, Georgia 
became possessed of a large tract in the south- 
west of the State. The second war with Eng- 
land (18 12-15) involved Georgia in hostilities" 
with the Indians on her western border, who- 
were finally subdued by General Andrew Jack- 



28 GEORGIA. 

■son. In 1 82 1 the cession of Florida to the 
United States relieved Georgia from the long 
■series of Spanish aggressions beginning with her 
existence as a colony. 

In 1825 a serious difficulty arose between the 
State and national authorities in consequence of 
proceedings by the Georgia executive to extin- 
guish the title to lands in the State held by the 
Creeks and Cherokees. The head chief of the 
Greeks, MTntosh, was assassinated by his people 
for signing away these lands to the whites. By 
an Act of Congress passed in 1830, these 
Indians were subsequently removed to the 
Indian territory west of the Mississippi. 

Georgia formally seceded from the Union in 
January, 1861. The Government forts and ar- 
senals were seized. The first military operations 
were on the coast. In April, 1862, Fort Pulaski, 
one of the defences of Savannah, was recaptured 
by the Federal forces under Com. Du Pont. St. 
Mary's, Brunswick, Darien, and St. Simon's 
island were also occupied. 

In the beginning of 1863 the Federal forces 
were in possession of middle and west Tennes- 
see. In September they occupied Chattanooga 
in strong force, the Confederates falling back 



GEORGIA. 29 

by the Western and Atlantic Railway to La- 
fayette, Ga. A further advance by General 
Rosecrans, the Federal commander, brought on 
the severely contested battle of Chickamauga, 
on the creek of that name (September 20), 
The Federals retreated to Chattanooga, which 
was soon threatened by the Confederates under 
Bragg. In November the Union army under 
General Grant drove Bragg from all his posi- 
tions. In the spring of 1864 the Southern army 
was at Dalton, Ga. , on the railway to Atlanta, 
which it covered. In May, General Sherman 
moved forward against this force a numerous 
and well-appointed Union army. Severe bat- 
tles took place at Resaca, Kingston, and AUa- 
toona Pass. A series of strategical movements, 
signalized by frequent bloody conflicts between 
the rival armies, resulted in the possession of 
Atlanta by the Union forces, September 2. 
From this point Sherman began in November 
his memorable march across Georgia to the 
sea. On December lOth he arrived in the 
neighborhood of Savannah, captured Fort 
M'Allister by assault, and occupied the city on 
the 2 1 St. A cavalry force under General Wil- 
son entered Georgia from Alabama in April, 



30 GEORGIA. 

1865, capturing Columbus, West Point, and 
Macon, and making Davis, the Confederate 
States president, prisoner. In June, 1865, a 
provisional governor was appointed for the 
State by the president of the United States. 
A convention assembled in October at Milledge- 
ville, which repealed the ordinance of secession, 
abolished slavery, and declared the war debt 
void. A new constitution was framed and rati- 
fied in 1868, and Rufus'B. Bullock inaugurated 
as governor. The restoration of civil govern- 
ment under the new forms was not effected in 
Georgia without complications which retarded 
its re-establishment on a solid foundation, but 
the amendments to the national constitution 
were at length adopted, and her senators and 
representatives were admitted to seats in 
Congress in December, 1870. During the war | 
Georgia furnished about 80,000 soldiers for the 
Confederate armies. She emerged from it with 
her industries prostrated, her treasury empty, 
lier social and political system revolutionized, 
her most flourishing cities in ruins. Her great 
natural resources are fast advancing her to a 
commanding position among her sister States ; 
and these resources are developing in the hands 



GEORGIA. 31 

of a free people with greater rapidity and ad- 
vantage than when half the population was en- 
slaved. Texas possibly excepted, no Southern 
State has a greater future than Georgia. 



)RG 



in. 

: I. i : 




r3B 



JM 



GE 0RGIA_ 




^.x 



GEORGIA: 



ITS HISTORY, CONDITION, 
AND RESOURCES 



BY 

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1879 

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